I've been working on various projects that Petronius plan on working on, as well as a wide shopping list of things he want to learn.
One of those things is spells he'd be interested in learning, either to facilitate his research or simply as a utility tool. As a Mercurian, he will need formulaic spells for a lot of things that would be done through spontaneous magic for most magi.
So I was rereading the description of the Great Library at Durenmar in GotF, and wondering how expensive it would be to get permission to copy some lab texts? On the one hand, GotF mentions that "Visitors to the Great Library are not permitted to take its books outside its walls, nor to copy them, without the explicit permission of the librarian.", but on the other hand it also states that members of House Bonisagus may study there for as many seasons as they wish.
I would assume that getting permission to copy lab texts would be much easier to obtain than actual books, but what do you think would be a reasonable price for such a privilege? Does 1 pawn of raw vis per season make sense? A copy of a new tractatus?
That may be higher for a non-Bonisagus, or change depending on how busy Durenmar is at a specific moment. But having a general idea of what it cost would be useful for planning purposes. Petronius, having spent some time at Durenmar during the planning stages of the covenant, would certainly have a good idea of what the cost is.
Would the "Experimentation" specialization of a lab apply to Original Research? I would tend to think so, but I am open to arguments towards it being a separate specialization.
Hmmm... The 3 pawns/year is for peregrinators in general, who stay anywhere from 3 to 7 years. The box insert also mentions that the fee of vis can also be paid through service, with a season of work equivalent to a year's fee.
But would that be the same if the stay is relatively short, like a season or two? What if the guest does not need a lab during his stay?
This may be something like 1 pawn/season for hosting the magus (discounted to 3 pawns/year for longer visits), and a further fee for actual copying rights.
The librarian would have final word on what is available for copy, but this might also look something like:
Consulting and copying lab notes (not lab texts for spells or enchantments), Rhine Tribunal and Grand Tribunal records: free
Lab texts for spells and enchantments (some may have restricted access and will not be found in the general library): 1 pawn/season or some equivalent
Tractatus: 1 pawns/season or some equivalent
Summae: to be negociated on a case by case basis
All of this supposes that the magus is doing the copying himself. It is also a basic baseline, which can change depending on the exact situation. A bonisagus may expect to pay slightly less (say 2 pawns for 3 seasons of copying), or a botched social roll interacting with the librarian may mean a specific magus has to pay more (or is even barred from copying for a few years).
An equivalent payment for 1 pawn may be a copy of a tractatus not currently in the library. A season of service would count as 3 pawns or more, based on the actual service negociated.
I don't know about Q7 being considered trash (you may have been joking, but I'm not sure. So here goes!
You are of course referring to the second column column of page 55: "He (the librarian) also decides which contributions are accepted — there is little need for low-level or mediocre-Quality summae, or common spells, since the library already has a glut of such texts.Tractatus and new spells (even if they are only subtle variants of existing spells) are usually welcomed."
No mention of Quality is made regarding tractatus, so one would assume they are almost always useful.
Furthermore, on page 57, first column: "A magus would need to read dozens of tractatus before he exhausted the supply of any particular Art. They vary widely; a typical Quality is between 3 and 9, with a maximum of about 12." And a bit further down: "To determine the Quality of a studied tractatus, roll a simple die and add 2." (Durenmar Lore can be added, but max Quality is 14.)
So this suggests that the average Quality is probably around 8.
My guess is even a low-Quality tractatus work would be accepted, at least until that author gains a reputation as a weak writer. After all, unless someone actually studies it and reports the poor quality to the librarian, he cannot know the actual quality of the book. And it might be years before a specific tractatus is actually read by anyone, and years more before the bad reputation is gained, IMHO.
Petronius, with a Com +2 Com and no virtue, can scribe Quality 8 tractatus. So his work is would be considered average (on the high side of "typical").
Note that I sent a PM to Gulla a couple of days ago, but he still hasn't read it. And he hasn't posted anything since August 23rd. Looks like he's out of action for the moment.
Right now we'll want to get things rolling even just a tad.
Then we can talk about getting new players, without taking a break while they make characters.
I'm certainly in favor of the "Get things rolling" idea.
I was hoping that the getting together thread would help with that. Like I mentionned, that thread occurs over a long period of time before, during and after the tribunal meeting of 1179, as the magi get to know each other. So it would certainly be appropriate to involve Titus in it, if you've got to wtire something about his goals, needs and hopes, as well as what he can do to help along the creation even as he is completing his apprenticeship.
Considering this is much more collaborative than what I'm doing in Bibracte, having more players is a plus for me. Arthur, you've shouldered a ton of work for the rest of us, so if you want to add some more voices, I definitely support that. There have been two posts in players looking for games, recently, but they are both novice to the Atlas forum. It's tough to say what that means as to the durability of the player. This saga, and I use that term loosely, may not appeal to players, since it's more of a write your own story approach, rather than a I'm the SG and here is what we're doing, here's the overall story I want to tell. I don't have a story for this saga. We all have individual stories for our magi, and if things click together and we can create interesting stories that bring the magi closer together, great.
Well, considering the extent of the covenant site, it would make more sense to have 5 to 7 players. Right now we have 4, with a 5th in limbo. The main site can host up to 6 sancta and the secondary site 2 more. Praxiteles will probably work mostly from his townhouse in Koblenz, which right now leaves only 3 magi when there is enough space for 8. To me that just a matter of making things realistic -- the magi would not have built the covenant so large if it had just been the 4 of them.
We could of course come up with some reason why this was necessary -- after all, we had to secure some sponsors, so some of the deals might have been to have space for an additional sanctum for some magus who felt that he might need a place to move to, or for his/her apprentice a couple of years down the road.
So I agree with Tellus that it might be better to get the show on the road, so to speak, and then integrate additional players once setting up is complete. Since this "saga" is almost exclusively character-driven (with essentially a bunch of SG cooperating), any players to be added would have to be somewhat experienced with the game. So if you know someone who'd like to join, I'd be open. By the time they have a character ready to roll, we should be able to be functional. We could simply announce opening "for experienced and autonomous players/SG", but for that I'd wait a little more.
So, in short, let's not "add more voices" right away, but let's keep our options open if someone expresses an interest.
I don't know that we need a super experienced player, we just need someone who's not expecting to go out and make a combat oriented character and expecting a lot of combat.
I think we can coach a strong writer with a powerful character concept but is weak on the game mechanics. I don't know that we can coach someone who will munchkin the game mechanics.
